This was a hybrid meeting. The in-person portion was in the BEES classroom and the speaker was remote. Instructions for registration were announced on the website and weekly digest.
Call to Order: President Gregg Gorton (remote)
Call to Order: 7:31 PM
Gregg introduced all the officers and welcomed guests.
Attendees: 16 in-person, 24 on Zoom.
Minutes from the last meeting were approved.
Committee Reports
Membership Committee – Linda Timlin
Three new birders have submitted applications – Daniel Poster, Maddy Singer and Matthew Cohen. Sean O’Donnell has also been approved for membership.
Nominations – Art McMorris
Nominees to be voted on during the annual election on January 4, 2024 are:
Officers (for 1-year terms):
President: Barbara Bassett
Vice President: Navin Sasikumar
Secretary: Nilesh Shah
Treasurer: Martin Dellwo
Councilors-at-Large (for 3-year terms):
Tanya Burnett
Peter Hamner
Art asked if there were any further nominations from the floor for any of these positions. There were none.
Field Trips – Linda Widdop
Email Linda Widdop, linda@techimpact.org, if interested in leading any field trips.
Upcoming field trips:
- January 01 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm – Bird Walk at Heinz NWR with Cliff Hence
- January 06 @ 8:00 am – 1:30 pm – Barnegat Inlet Bird Walk – Joint Trip with Wyncote Audubon led by Linda Widdop and Leigh Altadonna. The times might change depending on the tides.
- February 17 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am – Great Backyard Bird Count Walk at Laurel Hill Cemetery (East) with Navin Sasikumar
- February 17 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am – Great Backyard Bird Count Walk at West Laurel Hill Cemetery with Ken Walsh
- February 29 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm – Bird Walk at Heinz NWR with Cliff Hence
Conservation
Gregg reported that we are reconstituting the Conservation Committee in January. Anne Bekker will be stepping down as chair and we thank her for her 5 years of service.
Billings – Art McMorris
Go Birding. You can find more details about the Billings contest on the website. Send Art your species count and if your number is one of the highest, he will ask you for your official checklist. This is due by the last day of January.
Communication – Navin Sasikumar
Manny Dominguez has taken over as Weekly Digest editor. Victor Lefevre has implemented captcha on the website since we had a spate of spam membership applications.
DEI – Navin Sasikumar
No report
Announcements
Navin announced that the next meeting is the annual meeting at the Discovery Center on January 4th at 6:30 pm. This will be a potluck, so please sign up on the spreadsheet shared via the Weekly Digest to indicate if you are coming and what you will be bringing. Gregg said that we will be announcing two new honorary members and six new fellows at the annual meeting.
Navin added that instead of a quick talk about the history of the club, we will be having a Quizzo instead.
Linda Widdop reported that the Philadelphia Mid-Winter Bird census will be on January 13th. If you’re not signed up to lead an area, email Holger. There is a deer hunt at Heinz on the 6th, so we are doing the count on the 13th instead.
Barb announced that the Pennsylvania Bird Atlas 3 (PBA3) will be starting in January. If you missed the DVOC webinar about PBA3, the recording is available on the DVOC Youtube channel. People can sign up to lead blocks. Marty said that Manny is one of the county coordinators for Philly.
Local Notes
Steve Mattan reported that a Cackling Goose was found on the Pinelands CBC in Indian Mills Lake, Burlington County, NJ. He also had 2 Ravens on the CBC.
Patrick McGill said that there was a Red-necked Grebe at Heinz yesterday and today and that an Ash-throated Flycatcher has also been reported there. He also added that Nashville Warbler has been reported at both Heinz and Pennypack on the Delaware (POD). Patrick also said that he had a Clay-colored Sparrow continuing at POD as well as American Tree Sparrows.
Linda Rowan reported first of the season Hooded Mergansers on their creek in Levittown, PA. She also reported seeing Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawks.
Manny Dominguez said that the 104th Glenolden CBC was this past Saturday. Their group (Rich Ziegler, Karyl Weber, Peter Hamner and Manny) had 63 species at Heinz.
Robert Horton reported a Barnacle Goose at Mercer Corporate Park, Mercer County on December 4th. He said that it was a one day wonder but thinks that it must be around somewhere.
Programs: Barb Bassett
The next meeting will be the annual members meeting. Please see the Announcements section above for more info about this meeting.
More information is on the Meetings page of the DVOC website for this and other upcoming meetings.
Evening Program
This meeting was the annual member’s photo contest. All the entries were shown to the audience in the room and on Zoom and winners were announced. Congratulations to all participants and especially the winners. Thanks to Barb Bassett who hosted and to the judges – Linda Widdop and Michael Walter.
See all the winning photos here
Birds
1 – Over the Shoulder, Kristen Cooney
2 – Hummingbird Magic, Kristen Cooney
3 – Love is a Grape, Marty Dellwo
Fauna
1 – Peek, Kristen Cooney
2 – Fighting Male Green Frogs, Doug Wechsler
Flora
1 – American Lotus, Doug Wechsler
2 – Clutching onto Life, Kate Margo
Scenery
1 – Iconic Sunrise at Mormon Row, Ethan Kang
2 – Boating the Scenic Way Home, Navin Sasikumar
3 – My Heaven, Victoria Sindlinger
Birders
1 – Matching Flamingoes, Ethan Kang
DVOC Area
1 – Peregrine Falcon – Ben Franklin Bridge, Doug Wechsler
2 – A Catbird Discussion, Bert Filemyr
3 – Warming Up in the Sun, Ed Norman
Bird of the year
1 – The Inquisitor, Daniel Kalamarides
2 – Taking a Bath!, Bert Filemyr
Avocet Award
Schuylkill Sunset Reflections, Daniel Kalamarides
Adjournment
After the presentation and questions, the meeting was adjourned at 9:01 pm. A handful of us went to Cherry Street Tavern for post-meeting drinks.